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[Ranger]

1920x1200 on anything larger than 24" means you're not driving at the monitors actual native dimensions, though, right? Do you have astigmatisms or other vision issues, or do you sit far back from the displays?

No, that's a native resolution. I don't have any eye problems but sit far enough away from the monitors that I have found that to be comfortable for me.

The builder of this house ran Cat5 in a star topography for the telephone lines, which is perfect for networking... I got lucky there.

That's nice! When I bought the house I spent the first month before I moved in getting it wired and outfitted. I ran 3 CAT5e and 2 RG6 to each place I wanted to connect something. I'm glad I did, since then I've upgraded all my TV's to LCD wall mount, not a wire to be found .

I have three more servers scattered around the net, mostly in "cloud" environments now.

I do a lot in the cloud. My servers have certain purposes - like three are just for Windows Media Center and Plex (on Mac), one a general purpose server, one a Windows server for SQL replication and one for my home automation (Mac).

I'd really like to design and have built a house that functions as a cohesive system instead of just a structure with a bunch of independent devices and wiring systems, like we build houses today. For example, sometimes I'll hear a noise and I'd like to know what it was. If my electrical system monitored amp draw on every outlet, I could check to see if there was a new circuit going hot that corresponded to time, and know that it was (for example) the sump pump that kicked on.

It takes time! I've probably got around $12K in Insteon devices alone! What I like is that I can see and control everything from anywhere in the world via my phone or a browser (prefer phone, native apps). Since I travel a lot, my house does things like randomize the lights and drapes to give it the lived in look. Plus, my house knows when there is any movement and notifies me immediately. It freaks people out because my house talks. I'm working on a system now that when a motion sensor is tripped, a camera will do facial recognition to identify who tripped it and set the lights and music to that persons preference (a long work in progress).

The funny thing is that if you ever meet me I'll be the least geekiest guy you have met! Electronics and computers have always fascinated me.